White Riding Hood
by Midoriri
Summary: AU Genderswitch There was once a child called White Riding Hood, who across another creature known as the Golden Wolf...


"Alright now, bedtime."

"Do I get a story, Mom?

"Have you ever gone to bed without one?"

"Yay!" Mihael ran off, in his pajamas, to the bookshelf at the other end of his room. This left his mother to sit on his bed, right at the edge, and watch him carefully examine the titles on the spines. It almost made her smile. Mihael had read (well, listened to) every book on that shelf, and yet every night he ran to find some sort of a book he hadn't heard yet. This would last about five minutes before he'd select one of his favorites. Just as he did now.

It was a large book, much thicker than one would normally find on a child's books shelf, and looked quite old. It wasn't old to the point of falling apart, but the cover's once-bright illustration was faded, and it had definitely seen better days. Near always held it gently, so as not to damage it further. She would hate to replace it.

"What would you like me to read this time?" she asked as Mihael crawled under his covers, grabbing his stuffed panda for company.

"What is there?" he asked, moving closer to her and peeking at the table of contents.

"Let's see… 'Beauty and the Beast,' 'Puss in Boots,' 'Vasilissa the Beautiful…'" Near suddenly stopped, as if she didn't want to read the next title. Skipping over it, she continued with "The Brave Little Tailor…"

Mihael wasn't so easily fooled, however. "Wait, Mom," he protested, squirming and pointing to the title she missed. (Had he been counting them as she read?) "You missed one. What's that one?"

Praying that Mello wasn't anywhere _near_ the bedroom, she sighed "Little Red Riding Hood-"

"You mean the fairytale version?" interrupted Mello, sticking his head inside and grinning wickedly.

_Darn…_

"You mean there's a true version, Dad?" Mihael asked, wide-eyed.

"No, there isn't," said Near at the same time that Mello said, "Yes, there is." But Mello was louder.

"And her name wasn't 'Red,' either," he continued as he crossed the room and sat at the foot of the bed. "It was 'White.'"

"Mello, please leave," Near said in the closest thing to a groan she ever had.

"Tell the story, Dad!" Mihael cried, moving closer to his father now, leaving the black and white bear at Near's side.

Mello smirked in Near's direction, ignoring the dark look she gave him, and began:

"Once upon a time, there was a girl who was dressed all in white. And she wore a white hood on her head. As a result, everyone called her 'White Riding Hood.' She lived alone, in the middle of the forest, but she had three people who always came to visit her. They stayed for large amounts of time, keeping her company and giving her whatever news she hadn't already discovered.

"Now, the girl's uncle, who lived very far away, wanted to see her. So instead of going over himself, he decided that he'd let the girl get some sunlight and go out on her own to see him. But you know what?" Mello's voice dropped to a whisper, as if he were sharing some scandalous secret. "The girl's uncle never went into the sun, either, so he had no business telling her that she should."

Mihael giggled, his hands over his mouth, at the absurdity of it. "Did she go out to see him?"

"Well, she was about to," Mello continued. "But at the door, her three visitors stopped her and said 'White Riding Hood, if you go out today, please be very careful. The Golden Wolf is about, and he might eat you.'

"But White Riding Hood was not afraid. 'Don't worry,' she said quietly, for that was how she always spoke. 'If I should meet the Golden Wolf, I won't let him eat me. I won't let him lay a finger on me.' And with those words, she went out the door."

"Why didn't her three friends go with her, if they were scared she'd be eaten?" Mihael asked around his thumb.

"Because the girl's uncle requested she go alone."

"Mello, please, this isn't-" Near began.

But Mello went on with the story before she could go any further. "As she walked through the forest, she was very careful to stay on the path, and to watch out for the Golden Wolf. But the Golden Wolf was good at hiding-"

_Don't flatter yourself._"-and she didn't see him. Not until he walked right up to her, and tried to eat her.

"But White Riding Hood was _very_ smart, so she did everything in her power to keep the wolf away from her and to avoid him from that visit onward. But the Golden Wolf was smart, too, and he kept finding all sorts of ways to get to her again. She'd go one way and create obstacles, but he'd knock them down, go around them, make new ones for _her_ to get over, and catch up with her every single time."

Near spoke this time. "But he wasn't quick or smart enough," she deadpanned. "And White Riding Hood made it safely to her uncle's house."

Mello shot her a hard look.

"That's the end, then?" asked Mihael, looking extremely disappointed.

"Not quite," Mello assured him. "See, the girl's uncle asked her, when she arrived, 'Did you meet the Golden Wolf?'

"'Yes I did, Uncle,' White Riding Hood told him. 'But we never interacted. I always outsmarted him.'" Mihael didn't know why Mello looked angry at this part.

"The girl's uncle looked disappointed for some reason, and asked that she visit again tomorrow. And the same exact thing happened. Every day, she'd go and visit her uncle, and every day, the Golden Wolf would try to outsmart her so he could eat her. And it would always fail, and she'd be at her uncle's house. They'd have the same conversation, and it was repeated all over again. Many years passed this way, until one day, White Riding Hood was on the path, and the Golden Wolf simply stepped out in front of her.

"He said 'White Riding Hood, you've been humiliating me all these years. I'm going to tell you, right now, that today I'll win.'

"'I don't think so,' she answered. 'You can try all you like, but you won't be able to surpass me.'

"The Golden Wolf grew angry and tried even _harder _to outsmart her, but he kept on failing-"

"Daddy looks mad," Mihael interrupted.

"Huh?"

"You're mad," his son pointed out, pointing to his face. Near smirked as Mello tried to calm down.

"Right…anyway, when the Golden Wolf was setting up another obstacle, muttering on how smart White Riding Hood _thought_ she was, she came right up behind him and asked 'Why do you keep trying to out-do me?' she asked. 'We can work together, you know.'

"'Never!' shouted the Golden Wolf. He was much too proud for that.

"White Riding Hood kept on proposing it to him, but he never listened to her. And when she went to her uncle's, she told him 'I spoke to the Golden Wolf, like you asked me to, Uncle.' When her uncle nodded, looking quite pleased, she added 'But he won't listen to me.'

"'Keep trying then,' her uncle said. And White Riding Hood would try it again every day. Even her uncle would try to reason with the wolf. But nothing changed."

Mihael nodded, trying to keep listening. But his eyes were starting to drift shut. Mello took a note of this.

"I think that's enough then," he said, getting up and walking to the door.

"No! What happened next?" Mihael called out anxiously.

Near sighed and pulled Mihael closer to her again, setting the covers over him. "The Golden Wolf never listened," she whispered. "To this very day, he's still trying to out-smart White Riding Hood. He's just a little less angry about it, that's all."

"Oh," mumbled Mihael. So there wasn't a happy ending…

"But don't worry," Near added. "Eventually, they decided it'd be much easier to live closer than they did so that the Golden Wolf could keep trying. And White Riding Hood has almost been fooled a few times, believe me." With those words, she kissed him on the forehead and handed the panda back to him. "Good night."

"Is the Golden Wolf ever going to win?" Mihael yawned.

"He will eventually, I think. It might only be once, but he might."

"What happened to the girl's uncle?"

Near's smile faded. "It turned out he had planned the entire encounter," she said. "But he died before they could reach their compromise."

The panda was hugged tighter. "One more question," Mihael said sleepily. "When the wolf outsmarts White Riding Hood, is he going to eat her? Aren't they friends now?"

Near turned the light out. "The wolf and the girl are friends, yes. But they still compete." _And the wolf has eaten her. Many times…_

"What about-"

"Goodnight, Mihael," Near told him firmly, switching on the night-light before walking out of the room.

She was just turning the corner of the hallway when someone seized her around the waist and pulled her close. "Mello…" she scolded, slightly embarrassed.

"You look tired, my dear," he whispered, quoting from one of the original texts. "Why don't you undress yourself and climb into bed beside me?"

Both pairs of hands went down to Near's stomach, a very slight bump again. "You know, Mihael did ask if the wolf would ever eat the girl," Near revealed.

Mello deliberately chose not to answer her, choosing instead to begin his manipulation.

Near let him get away with it. It was one of the only times he could ever best her.


End file.
